Topics

MESA, Ariz. — After Cubs second baseman Javier Baez was pummeled trying to turn a double play the other night against the Angels, manager Joe Maddon rushed out of the dugout wondering if he would need smelling salts. "Javy (was) clocked like an NFL quarterback,'' Maddon recalled before Friday's Cubs-White Sox game at Sloan Park. "I ran out to ask him when was the last time a Puerto Rican played in the NFL because he got smoked. Then he got right back up and kept playing. Loved it.'' This is what people love about Maddon. Humor accompanies almost every exchange, enthusiasm appreciated with every encounter. He turns simple questions into detailed...

Related "Dale Sveum" Articles

MESA, Ariz. — After Cubs second baseman Javier Baez was pummeled trying to turn a double play the other night against the Angels, manager Joe Maddon rushed out of the dugout wondering if he would need smelling salts.
"Javy (was) clocked like an...

MESA, Ariz. — As Cubs' pitchers and catchers reported to their spring training facility Thursday, Cubs' attorneys and paralegals reported to a U.S. District courtroom back home in Chicago.
The players may have little in common with the legal team...

MESA, Ariz. — The Cubs begin preparation for the 2015 season Friday, but they also hope to begin to a lay a foundation for long-term success when they conduct their first workout for pitchers and catchers under new manager Joe Maddon.
With the core of...

The job of a baseball writer takes you to some interesting places, and in 2014 I was lucky enough to witness the Hall of Fame inductions of Frank Thomas and Greg Maddux, Jackie Robinson West's amazing run at the Little League World Series and Madison...

Dominican police questioned Starlin Castro on Saturday about a nightclub shooting in which his younger brother was involved, authorities said.
Castro’s agent, Paul Kinzer, said the Cubs’ shortstop was not involved in the incident and was not arrested.
...

Somebody good finally took the Cubs’ money.Anibal Sanchez didn’t, and the Cubs got stuck with Edwin Jackson.
Masahiro Tanaka didn’t, and the Cubs were starting to look like chumps whose purpose was only to drive up the price for good players to get...

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo is only 25, but he’s already on his fourth big league manager in Joe Maddon, who replaced the fired Rick Renteria last month.
Rizzo said Friday he’s excited to play for Maddon after the two spoke recently over the phone....

SAN FRANCISCO — That absence of noise Friday at Wrigley Field didn’t mean the demolition of the bleachers had ceased.
It was the Cubs front office going under the Cone of Silence as speculation swirled they may be interested in hiring former Rays’...

The offseason free-agent period begins Thursday, and the Cubs appear on the verge of finalizing the first of what they hope are several impact acquisitions.
The hiring of two-time American League manager of the year Joe Maddon seems imminent, according...

You could make the case Bruce Bochy is a better manager than Joe Maddon after Bochy’s Giants just won their third World Series in five years. That’s the object of the exercise. That’s a Hall-of-Fame accomplishment. Checkmate.
You also could argue for...

The November edition of Vine Line, the Cubs' monthly magazine their the marketing department produces, includes a story on manager Rick Renteria under the headline "Exit Interview."
It turned out to be a prescient headline, though the subject...

The players all dressed in crazy costumes for the postgame plane ride, some imitating superheroes and a couple even pretending to be team executives.
It was a blatant attempt to lighten the atmosphere in the clubhouse, and everyone got in on the act,...

PHOENIX — After grooming Ben Cherington replace him eventually with the Red Sox, Cubs President Theo Epstein goes head-to-head against his one-time protege for the first time since both interviewed Dale Sveum for their manager openings three years ago.
...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Worst to first: Royals hitting coach Dale Sveum is enjoying the Series' atmosphere after being fired as Cubs manager one year ago with a year remaining on his three-year contract.
"You get fired and end up in the place like...

When last seen in the World Series 29 years ago, the Royals' de facto MVP was Don Denkinger, a major league umpire whose blown call at first base helped them avoid losing in six games to the Cardinals.
Given new life, they staged a ninth-inning rally...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When the Royals won their only World Series championship in 1985, 19-year-old fan Dayton Moore watched Game 7 from a grassy knoll between the left field stands of Royals Stadium and Interstate-70.
It was the equivalent of watching a...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If a movie is to be made of the incredible saga of the 2014 Royals, the role of Ned Yost would have to be played by an actor like Steve Carell, someone adept at playing a bumbling idiot.
"Kansas City and the Terrible, Horrible, No...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Any Royals player saying the American League Championship Series will not go back to Baltimore would have come as a surprise.
That the bold prediction came from Jarrod Dyson, someone few outside Kansas City have heard of, made it an...

It has been a long, strange trip for Dale Sveum, from taking the blame for the Cubs' woes to watching a young Royals lineup grow up overnight into the surprising team that leads the Orioles 2-0 in the American League Championship Series..
It was a little...